Apparatus for marking conductor cables

ABSTRACT

A longitudinally advancing conductor cable freshly extruded with plastic insulation is marked by a stream of a fluid material of a predetermined color as follows: The stream is first ejected from a high-pressure nozzle, sinusoidally deflected by electrical deflection means, and then the deflection is amplified to be substantially larger than the cross-sectional dimension of the cable by an electrical amplifying means before the stream is applied transversely to the cable. Where a complete band mark needs to be made around the cable, a second stream may be applied to the cable opposite to the side being marked by the first stream, by deflecting and amplifying the second stream in the same manner as the first stream. Using a displacement electrode and varying the DC potential applied thereto, the band marks made by each stream may be matched more precisely by bending the second stream toward the advancing direction of the cable and by controlling the degree of bending to match the first stream as the two streams hit the cable. A plurality of streams of different or the same color materials may be applied to the cable simultaneously at given intervals after being deflected and amplified in the same manner as the first stream.

United States Patent Haise et al.

[ 1 Feb.1,1972

Hans Joachim Haise, Ditzingen; Hans Harbort, Ludwigsburg, both of Germany [72] Inventors:

International Standard Electric Corporation, New York, N.Y.

221 Filed: Apr. 15, 1970 21 Appl.No.: 28,903

[73] Assignee:

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 24, 1969 Germany ..P 19 20 9666 [52] U.S.Cl ..118/625, 118/629, 117/43, 1 18/621 [51] Int. Cl ..B05b 5/00 [58] Field ofSearch ..1 18/621,625,626, 627,628, 118/629, DIG. 21, 325; 117/43 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,428,284 9/1947 Krogel ..91/l2 2,883,302 4/1959 Ransburg. 117/93 3,083,121 3/1963 Gauthier 117/93.4 3,248,253 4/1966 Barford et al. 117/17 3,446,183 5/1969 Drum ..118/629 3,490,115 1/1970 Owens et al. ..28/l

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,034,146 6/1966 Great Britain ..118/DIG. 21

BOTTLE Primary ExaminerMervin Stein Assistant ExaminerLeo Millstein AtlorneyC. Cornell Remsen, Jr., Walter J. Baum, Paul W. Hemminger, Charles L. Johnson, Jr., Philip M. Bolton, Isidore Togut, Edward Goldberg and Menotti .l. Lombardi, Jr.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A longitudinally advancing conductor cable freshly extruded with plastic insulation is marked by a stream of a fluid material of a predetermined color as follows: The stream is first ejected from a high-pressure nozzle, sinusoidally deflected by electrical deflection means, and then the deflection is amplified to be substantially larger than the cross-sectional dimension of the cable by an electrical amplifying means before the stream is applied transversely to the cable. Where a complete band mark needs to be made around the cable, a second stream may be applied to the cable opposite to the side being marked by the first stream, by deflecting and amplifying the second stream in the same manner as the first stream. Using a displacement electrode and varying the DC potential applied thereto, the band marks made by each stream may be matched more precisely by bending the second stream toward the advancing direction of the cable and by controlling the degree of bending to match the first stream as the two streams hit the cable. A plurality of streams of different or the same color materials may be applied to the cable simultaneously at given intervals after being deflected and amplified in the same manner as the first stream.

9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures AMPLIFIER PATENTEU FEB 11272 3,63 ,51

sum 1 OF AMPLIFIER I RESERVOIR INVENTORS l HANS JOACH/M HA/SE HANS HARBOR? ATTORNEY mimmrmnmz SHEUHFZ 3,638,612

INVENTORS HANS JOACH/M HAIS HANS IHARBTORT ATTORNEY APPARATUS FOR MARKING CONDUCTOR CABLES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present application relates to a method of and an apparatus for marking a cable and more particularly, for band marking plastic-insulated conductor wires with streams of various different color materials in a fluidic state.

2. Description of the Prior Art As generally known, the band marking operation of plasticinsulated conductor wires is combined with the wire insulating operation for simplifying manufacturing processes and for assuring a good adherence of the color material to the wires. Since the freshly extruded wire insulation must not be exposed to any appreciable mechanical pressure, it is customary to mark the wires using a moving stream of a color material in a fluidic state.

To this end, a method has been provided whereby one or several color streams being ejected from nozzles under pressure, are applied to a longitudinally advancing wire while the streams are being moved up and down transverse to the wire.

The oscillating frequency of the nozzles and, consequently, the maximum production speed are largely dictated by the inertia of the mechanical oscillating syster in the apparatus that provides up and down movement to the nozzles. Typically the maximum oscillating frequency that such apparatus can reach is about 500 Hertz. Thus, with a color band spacing of about 5 millimeters (mm.), which is usually prescribed for hookup wire, the production speed is limited to a maximum of about 300 meters per minute (m./min.). The mechanical oscillating system operating at the maximum attainable frequency, how

ever, has a very limited service life. As a result, in practice, the operating frequency is usually maintained below 300 Hertz, which, with the above-mentioned color band spacing, results in a production speed of approximately 180 m./min. Even with such a greatly reduced production speed, the mechanical oscillating system of the apparatus has a limited service life.

There has been provided another method of marking the cable whereby the color streams produced by a spray device are guided to the conductor transverse to its longitudinal direction at certain intervals by a train of very high voltage pulses applied to the conductor. The high voltage involved in such a method, however, requires elaborate and expensive protection arrangements. Even then the high voltage still presents a serious hazard to the operators who must work near the conductor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for marking a conductor cable that overcomes aforementioned shortcomings ofthe prior art.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel method and apparatus which utilizes electrical deflection and amplification of a fluid for marking an insulated conductor cable.

In accordance with the present method, the aforementioned objects are achieved by advancing the cable longitudinally in a given direction, forming a stream of a fluid material of a given color, electrically deflecting the stream sinusoidally in a transverse direction, electrically amplifying the amplitude of the deflection of the stream to a magnitude greater than the cross section of the cable, and then applying the stream transverse to the advancing cable. The method may further include forming a second stream of a fluid material of the given color, deflecting and amplifying the second stream in the same manner as the first stream and then applying the stream opposite the side of the cable marked by the first stream for completing the mark around the cable. Preferably, one of the streams may be electrically bent after its amplification in the direction of the advancement of the cable and the extent of bending adjusted to match one stream against the other stream. Instead of one or two, a plurality of streams of different colors may be formed, deflected and amplified and applied to an advancing cable for forming a plurality of bands around the cable simultaneously.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a novel apparatus for performing the method is provided. The apparatus comprises a means for ejecting the fluid material of a predetermined color in the form of a stream at a relatively high pressure, an electrical deflection means for deflecting the stream sinusoidally transverse to a longitudinal advancing cable, and an electrical amplifying means for amplifying the extent of the sinusoidal deflection of the stream to be substantially greater than the cross-sectional dimension of the cable prior to the application of the stream to the advancing cable. The apparatus may include a second set of the aforementioned various means for applying another stream opposite the first stream to effect a complete band mark.

The apparatus may further include a DC displacement electrode for applying a DC field nonsymmetric to the axis of the path of one of the streams to bend it laterally in the direction of the advancement of the cable and means for varying the DC field to adjust the extent of bending of the stream to match it with the other stream in forming the complete band mark. The apparatus may also include a plurality of pairs of ejecting, deflecting and amplifying means, and displacement electrodes arranged to mark a plurality of bands simultaneously on the advancing cable.

The aforementioned objects and features and other objects and features may be more fully apprehended from the detailed description of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF. DES RI TION QETHE DRAWI GS FIG. I shows a side view in partial cross section of the deflection system;

FIG. 2 schematically shows a novel apparatus for practicing the inventive method;

FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c show side, front and top views respectively of the deflection system with a displacement electrode; and

FIG. 4 shows a top view of a deflection system for simultaneously applying a plurality of marks to the insulated conductor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As can be seen from FIG. I, a color material in a fluidic state is forced out of a fixed nozzle 1, at a pressure from 1.5 to I .8 times that of atmospheric pressure, to form a thin horizontal stream of color material 3. The noule l is electrically connected to a ground potential and has an orifice of about 0.5 mm. The stream is then applied through a bipolar electrodynamic deflection system 2 consisting of two round wire electrodes of about 2 mm. in diameter and positioned about 5 mm. from the nozzle. The two electrodes are spaced about 2.5 mm. from each other, and are preferably insulated. Interelectrode spacing and insulation of the electrodes allow the material to drip off from the electrode and thus avoid the undesirable brush discharge of the color material found in the prior art. As apparent from FIG. 2, positive or negative halves of sinusoidal voltage pulses of 3 to 5 kv. peak voltage are alternately applied to the deflecting electrodes to deflect the color stream 3 sinusoidally. The amplitude of the oscillations of the color stream is mainly dependent on the amplitude of the voltage pulses, the pulse frequency, the amount of color material being ejected and the relative dielectric constant of the color material 3.

The applicants have found that the mark formed on the cable is clean and sharply defined when the amplitude of the oscillation is deflected to the extent of at least four times the diameter of the insulated conductor 4 at the point that the stream is applied to the conductor. The required amplification was obtained by a cylindrical amplifying electrode 5 arranged about 10 mm. from the electrodes of the electrodynamic deflection system 2 and by applying a variable DC potential to the amplifying electrode. The applicants have found that by varying the DC potential from 2 to 5 kv. it was possible to realize up to a five fold increase in the amplitude of oscillation. The insulated conductor 4 is so positioned that it advances horizontally along its longitudinal axis at a distance of about to 40 mm. from the amplifying electrode 5. The color stream is directed transverse to the advancing conductor 4, and is so oriented that the sinusoidal deflection moves up and down vertically with respect to the horizontally advancing cable and that the zero-axis crossing of the oscillations is aligned in the plane of the longitudinal axis of the cable. Where the cable is cylindrical, the band mark formed by the stream covers one half of the circumference of the cable FIG. 2 also shows an electrical circuit for generating the high voltage pulses. The circuit includes an audio-oscillator 6, a power amplifier 7 and a rectifier 2, in tandem. The audiooscillator 6 may be of the type which is controllable with respect to its frequency and voltage, or of a tachogenerator type which is synchronizable with the advancing speed of the wire. The output of the oscillator is amplified by a power amplifier 7 to a required voltage and then applied to the rectifing means 2 through a transformer 8. The voltage from the two symmetrical secondaries of the transformer is applied respectively to two diodes 9 and 10 of the rectifing means and then applied to the two deflecting electrodes 2 through short, lowcapacitance and low-leakage lines. A reservoir 11 contains a suitable color material and supplies the material under a high pressure by compressed air from a stock bottle 12 fed through a valve 13.

For producing a complete band marking on the insulated conductor, two deflection apparatus may be positioned on opposite sides of the conductor. In order to prevent the two color streams from influencing each other, the two deflection apparatus may be staggered from each other along the insulated conductor by one or several band spacings. In some applications a fine adjustment may be necessary to match the two half hands. This is made possible by using a displacement electrode 14, such as that shown in a side view in FIG. 3a, in a front view in FIG. 3b, and in a top view in FIG. 30. The electrode is connected to a controllable DC high-voltage potential source and applies a DC field which is nonsymmetric to the axis of the path of the color stream material. The electrode may be of any suitable shape. For example, it may be in a boxlike form, as shown, or in an oval, platelike or filamentary shape. When the color stream is directed past this displacement electrode, it is deflected toward the nearest plate and preferably bent laterally in the direction of the advancing cable. The deflection angle, and consequently matching of the stream to the other stream, can be readily controlled by increasing or decreasing the DC potential applied to the plate to control the deflection angle. As shown in FIG. 30, the marking on the opposite side of the cable 4 is provided by a second color stream 3 from a second deflection apparatus 5' of the type illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows an apparatus which simultaneously applies triple bands on the advancing conductor 4. Three streams of different or the same color material emerge from three nozzles. The three color streams are then sinusoidally deflected by deflection electrodes 2 common to all three streams. The deflection amplitude of the three streams are amplified by three individual amplifying electrodes 5 of the type discussed above. A separate displacement electrode 14, provided for each color stream, bends the direction of the color stream in the manner described above.

The novel method and apparatus provide several important advantages over the prior art. The present invention eliminates the need for mechanically oscillating components and thus provides an increased life expectancy of the apparatus and permits a simplified structure. Also the electrical control means in the apparatus makes it possible to have more precise control in matching the bands and to substantially increase the marking speed and thus the production of the cable. In a number of tests, the applicants have found that it was possible to increase the frequency of oscillation to L400 Hertz, using the above mentioned band spacing of 5 mm., with excellent results. This yielded a production speed of about 850 m./min. which compares very favorably with the prior art method that yielded up to 180 m./min.

For band marking at such a high production speed, it is possible to use essentially the same commercial color material compositions as those used in the prior art. But these commercial compositions require a relatively long drying time and consequently a long drying distance after the application of the color bands. The applicants have found a better color material that consisted of percent solvent and diluent, 2 to 3 percent bonding agent (PVC), and the remainder of 2 to 3 percent color content, with the solvent being made of 67 percent methylene chloride, 10 percent chloroform and 23 percent cyclohexane. Besides the desired electrical and mechani cal properties, this color material was found to require a drying distance of only about 1 meter on the still hot, just extruded insulation at a production speed of 350 m./min.

It is to be understood that the above-described method and apparatus are simply illustrative of the principles of the invention. Other methods and apparatus may be readily devised embodying the principles of the present invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for marking a cable with a fluid material of a predetermined color comprising:

means for advancing said cable in a longitudinal direction;

a first means ejecting said fluid toward said cable in the form of a stream at a relatively high pressure;

a first electrical deflection means for sinusoidally deflecting said stream transverse to the longitudinally advancing cable;

a first electrical amplifying means for amplifying the magnitude of the sinusoidal deflection of said stream to an extent substantially greater than the cross-sectional dimension of said cable and applying the amplified deflected stream to the advancing cable.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said first deflection means includes a first and a second electrode disposed adjacent said ejecting means and on opposite sides of said stream, and an electrical power source applying a sinusoidally varying electrical potential to said first and second electrodes.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said power source includes:

an electrical source generating sinusoidal waves;

means for amplifying said sinusoidal waves;

means for rectifying each half cycle of the amplified sinusoidal waves;

means applying each half of the rectified sinusoidal waves alternately to a corresponding one of said first and second electrodes.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said first electrical amplifying means includes an electrode having a hollow internal tapered profile, the axis of said tapered profile being aligned with the cable, the electrode being positioned so that said stream enters at the narrow end of the tapered profile and exits at the broader end of the profile; and a variable DC potential source controlling the magnitude of the amplification of said electrical amplifying means.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 further includes a second stream ejecting means, a second electrical deflection means, and a second electrical amplifying means arranged for applying a second stream of said material of the predetermined color opposite the side of the cable to said first ejecting, deflection and amplifying means for completing the mark around the cable.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, further including:

displacement electrode means for applying a DC field nonsymmetric to the axis of the path of said second stream to bend the stream laterally in the direction of the advancing cable; and

means for varying the DC potential of said electrode means to adjust the degree of bending of said second stream to match said first stream at a corresponding position on said opposite side of said cable.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, further including a plurality of 5 stream ejecting means, common electrical deflection means, a plurality of electrical amplifying means, and a plurality of displacement electrode means for applying a plurality of dif- 

1. An apparatus for marking a cable with a fluid material of a predetermined color comprising: means for advancing said cable in a longitudinal direction; a first means ejecting said fluid toward said cable in the form of a stream at a relatively high pressure; a first electrical deflection means for sinusoidally deflecting said stream transverse to the longitudinally advancing cable; a first electrical amplifying means for amplifying the magnitude of the sinusoidal deflection of said stream to an extent substantially greater than the cross-sectional dimension of said cable and applying the amplified deflected stream to the advancing cable.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said first deflection means includes a first and a second electrode disposed adjacent said ejecting means and on opposite sides of said stream, and an electrical power source applying a sinusoidally varying electrical potential to said first and second electrodes.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said power source includes: an electrical source generating sinusoidal waves; means for amplifying said sinusoidal waves; means for rectifying each half cycle of the amplified sinusoidal waves; means applying each half of the rectified sinusoidal waves alternately to a corresponding one of said first and second electrodes.
 4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said first electrical amplifying means includes an electrode having a hollow internal tapered profile, the axis of said tapered profile being aligned with the cable, the electrode being positioned so that said stream enters at the narrow end of the tapered profile and exits at the broader end of the profile; and a variable DC potential source controlling the magnitude of the amplification of said electrical amplifying means.
 5. The apparatus of claim 2 further includes a second stream ejecting means, a second electrical deflection means, and a second electrical amplifying means arranged for applying a second stream of said material of the predetermined color opposite the side of the cable to said first ejecting, deflection and amplifying means for completing the mark around the cable.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, further including: displacement electrode means for applying a DC field nonsymmetric to the axis of the path of said second stream to bend the stream laterally in the direction of the advancing cable; and means for varying the DC potential of said electrode means to adjust the degree of bending of said second stream to match said first stream at a corresponding position on said opposite side of said cable.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, further including a plurality of stream ejecting means, common electrical deflection means, a plurality of electrical amplifying means, and a plurality of displacement electrode means for applying a plurality of different color bands simultaneously to the advancing cable.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said fluid material consists of 95 percent solvent, 2 to 3 percent bonding agent and the remainder of color material.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said solvent is made of 67 percent methylene chloride, 10 percent chloroform and 23 percent cyclohexane. 